# PostgreSQL SUM() Function With Practical Examples

> The SUM() is used to perform the addition on a set of values. Use the DISTINCT option with the SUM() function to calculate the sum of distinct values.

PostgreSQL provides a built-in **SUM()** function that is used to perform the addition on a set of values. Postgres allows us to compute the sum of distinct values using an additional option/operator, DISTINCT. While performing addition, the SUM() function skips the “NULL” values.

Let’s learn the working of the SUM() function through Practical examples.

 **How to Use SUM() Function in Postgres?**

The below snippet illustrates the syntax of the SUM() function:
    
    
    SUM(DISTINCT exp | col_name);

Here, “exp” represents an expression while col_name represents the column name. In the SUM() function, either you can specify an expression to calculate its sum, or you can specify a column name on which you want to perform the addition.

 **Example #1: How to Use SUM() Function on Table’s Data?**

Let’s say we have a table bike_details. We will execute the SELECT query to fetch all the records of the bike_details table:
    
    
    SELECT * FROM bike_details;

Let’s perform addition on the bike_price column using the SUM() Function:
    
    
    SELECT SUM(bike_price) AS total_price
    FROM bike_details;

The output authenticates that the SUM() function returns the sum of the bike_price column.

 **Example #2: How to Calculate the Sum of Distinct Values Using the SUM() Function?**

Specify the DISTINCT option before the column’s name to perform the addition on the distinct values:
    
    
    SELECT SUM(DISTINCT bike_price) AS total_price
    FROM bike_details;

Here is what you will get on successful execution of the above-given query:

This time, the SUM() function returned the sum of distinct values.

 **Example #3: How to Use the SUM() Function to Compute the Sum of Groups?**

Run the following query to perform the addition on the bike_price column based on the groups. Let’s utilize the GROUP BY clause to group the bikes having the same model:
    
    
    SELECT
    bike_model,
    SUM (bike_price) AS total_price
    FROM bike_details
    GROUP BY bike_model;

From the output, you can observe that this time the SUM() function returned the sum in the form of groups.

 **Example #4: How to Use SUM() Function With HAVING Clause in Postgres?**

Let’s perform the addition on the bike_price column based on a specific condition, i.e., bike price >= 115,000. To do that, we will use the Postgres HAVING Clause:
    
    
    SELECT
    bike_model,
    SUM (bike_price) AS total_price
    FROM bike_details
    GROUP BY bike_model
    HAVING SUM(bike_price) > 115000;

In this example, we utilized the SUM() function to calculate the sum of the bike_price column. Next, we utilized the GROUP BY clause to group the bikes based on their model and the HAVING clause to specify a condition.

 **Example #4: How to Use SUM() Function on An Expression in Postgres?**

We modified the bike_details table and added a new column named “price_change”. The updated table will look like this:
    
    
    SELECT * FROM bike_details;

Let’s specify an expression within the SUM() function and see how the SUM() function work:
    
    
    SELECT bike_model, SUM(DISTINCT bike_price + price_change)
    FROM bike_details
    GROUP BY bike_model;

In this example, we perform the addition on the bike_price and price_change column. We utilized the group by clause to show the updated price of each model.

This way, you can use the SUM() function to perform the addition in PostgreSQL.

 **Conclusion**

PostgreSQL offers an in-built function named **SUM()** that is used to perform the addition on a set of values. Postgres allows you to compute the sum of distinct values using an additional option/keyword, DISTINCT. This write-up considered different scenarios to demonstrate the working of the SUM() function in PostgreSQL.

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